Microglia and astrocyte responses to neuropathogenic protozoan parasites
- Resource Type
- Authors
- George S. Yap; Azadeh Nasuhidehnavi
- Source
- Faculty Reviews
- Subject
- Innate immune system
Microglia
Central nervous system
astrocytes
microglia
Review Article
alarmin
Biology
neuroinflammation
Crosstalk (biology)
medicine.anatomical_structure
Lytic cycle
Cerebral Malaria
parasitic diseases
Immunology
medicine
Cerebral malaria
Neuroinflammation
cerebral toxoplasmosis
Astrocyte
- Language
- ISSN
- 2732-432X
Cerebral toxoplasmosis and cerebral malaria are two important neurological diseases caused by protozoan parasites. In this review, we discuss recent findings regarding the innate immune responses of microglia and astrocytes to Toxoplasma and Plasmodium infection. In both infections, these tissue-resident glial cells perform a sentinel function mediated by alarmin crosstalk that licenses adaptive type 1 immunity in the central nervous system. Divergent protective or pathogenic effects of type 1 activation of these astrocytes and microglia are revealed depending on the inherent lytic potential of the protozoan parasite.